BRITISH scientists are developing a revolutionary vaccine that works against
all types of flu, the UK DAILY MAIL fronts on Friday.

It would protect people against flu and a single jab could give lifelong immunity.

Currently, new vaccines have to be developed each year. The major breakthrough
has been made by the Cambridge biotech firm Acambis.

When it announced the news yesterday the value of its shares jumped by 9p.
Such a vaccine would be massively lucrative for its manufacturer.

Each year, flu kills up to 12,000 people in the UK, many of them elderly. But
experts have been warning of a possible global pandemic of bird flu, which would
infect a third of the world's population in just a year and kill hundreds of
millions.

The current problem with fighting flu is that the virus is constantly mutating
and producing new strains.

A new vaccine has to be produced each year to protect against the particular
strains circulating at that time.

The scientists at Acambis, working with Belgian researchers, have created the
first-ever 'broad spectrum' vaccine, which is effective against many of the
most common types of flu.

They are now refining the formula to make a more advanced jab that could protect
against all types.

This universal vaccine could soon enter human trials. Acambis says it would
be quicker and easier to produce than current vaccines, which are created in
fertilized chicken eggs.

Dr Thomas Monath, chief scientific officer at Acambis, said: 'The need to develop
a new vaccine each time a different influenza strain emerges often results in
long delays before a population can be protected.

'We aim to avoid the need for annual re- engineering and manufacture of new
products, something that is not yet possible with existing vaccines.

'The technology also has special importance as a potential means of protecting
human populations against pandemic influenza strains.'

The breakthrough is seen as so important to the future of the company, which
specialises in vaccines, that it was announced to the stock market first.

The broad-spectrum vaccine is being tested on animals and the first human trials
could start in a year.